Part of Speech: Adverb
Strong's Number: H8548
Original Word: tamîd
Usage Notes: "always; continually; regularly." This word comes from a root that means "to measure." The root is found in Assyrian, Aramaic, Arabic, and Phoenician. Tamîd occurs 100 times in all parts of the Old Testament. It signifies what is to be done regularly or continuously without interruption.
Tamîd is first used in Exod 25:30. "And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me always" (kjv; nasb, "at all times"). Sometimes the continuity is explained by what follows, as in Isa 21:8: "… My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights."
Because of his covenant with Jonathan, David said to Mephibosheth: "… and you shall eat at my table regularly" (2Sam 9:7; cf. 2Sam 9:10, nasb; kjv, "continually"; rsv, "always").
Tamîd occurs most frequently of the daily rituals in the tabernacle and temple: "Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually" (Exod 29:38). The variety in the English versions indicates that both ideas, regularity and continuousness, are present in the Hebrew word. In this passage, tamîd indicates that these rituals were to be performed regularly and without interruption for the duration of the old covenant.
The word is also used of God. It describes His visible presence at the tabernacle: "So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night" (Num 9:16). It describes His care for His people: "… let thy loving-kindness and thy truth continually preserve me" (Psa 40:11); "And the Lord shall guide thee continually …" (Isa 58:11.)
Tamîd is also used of Jerusalem: "… thy walls are continually before me" (Isa 49:16). The word describes man's response to God: "I have set the Lord always before me" (Psa 16:8); "… his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psa 34:1); "So I shall keep thy law continually, for ever and ever" (Psa 119:44). In contrast, Israel is "a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face" (Isa 65:3). Finally, it is said of Zion eschatologically: "Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night" (Isa 60:11).
Usage Number: 2
Part of Speech: Adjective
Strong's Number: H8548
Original Word: tamîd
Usage Notes: "continual." In Exod 30:7-8, Aaron is commanded to burn incense morning and evening when he trims the lamps. He is told to offer "… a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations" (kjv). The same Hebrew expression is used often of priestly functions (cf. Num 28:6; Ezek 46:15).
